Flatley Earns MVP as Bulldogs Announce Awards

Kaitlyn Flatley. (photo by Sam Rubin '95, Yale Sports Publicity)

May 08, 2011

Hixon Most Improved; Kidd and Trivellas Share Holgate

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale women's lacrosse team announced its annual awards at the team's season-ending luncheon, held May 1 in the Varsity Room of Ray Tompkins House. Senior defender/midfielder Kaitlyn Flatley (Berwyn, Pa.) earned the Bowditch Award as the team's most valuable player and senior defender Augusta Hixon (Cambridge, Mass.) won the Most Improved Player Award. A pair of seniors, defender Fielding Kidd (Atlanta, Ga.) and defender Mahi Trivellas (Chadds Ford, Pa.), earned the Holgate Award for dedication.

For Flatley, the Bowditch Award recognizes the work she did defensively this season, a year after finishing second on the team in goals and points as a midfielder. The Bulldogs needed her more in the defensive end of the field this year, and she responded with a team-leading 22 caused turnovers. She was named honorable mention All-Ivy League.

"One of the areas we sorely needed was a takeaway defender, so that is what we asked Kaitlyn to do this year," said Anne Phillips, Yale's Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Women's Lacrosse. "She has great stick skills and transitions the ball very well. She is very talented, as shown by the fact that she has also played midfield. She has filled a lot of roles for this team."

A graduate of Conestoga High, Flatley is a political science major in Pierson College at Yale.

The Bowditch Award is named after Barbara Bowditch, the coach of Yale's first varsity team (1976). It is determined by a team vote.

This is Hixon's second Most Improved Player Award, making her the second player in school history to win the award twice (Nada Sellers '86 won in 1984 and 1985). Hixon, who also won the award in 2009, played in 13 games and had 10 ground balls.

"We needed someone who could provide great 1v1 defense, and that is one of the areas Augusta shines in," Phillips said. "She has great foot speed, and also great speed in transition. We challenged her by giving her some key match-ups, and she helped shut down some of the top players on the other team. She rose to the challenge. Additionally, she and the other veteran defenders helped bring our younger defenders along. In addition to her work ethic and positive attitude, Augusta sets the tone with her fearlessness and determination to go in and get the job done."

A graduate of Buckingham Browne & Nichols, Hixon is a humanities major in Berkeley College at Yale.

Kidd and Mahi Trivellas both made key contributions to Yale's defense. This is the second time in team history that the Holgate Award has been shared; the other time was 1987, when Sue Diaz '87 and Hannah Reeves '87 earned it. The award is given to the player whose dedication to the ideals of Yale and to the success of women's lacrosse measure up to the standards set by James G. "Gib" Holgate, a member of the Yale athletic administration from 1954 to 1985. It is determined by a team vote.

Kidd, Yale's captain, was a second team All-Ivy League selection after leading the team with 25 ground balls and adding a career-high 14 caused turnovers. She routinely shut down the top offensive players that Yale faced.

"As captain, Fielding was completely dedicated to the team and moving this program forward," Phillips said. "In addition to leading the team in ground balls, she helped bring the team to the next level defensively."

A graduate of The Westminster School, Kidd is a political science major in Jonathan Edwards College at Yale.

Mahi Trivellas' career was marked by perseverance. She overcame a serious injury in the fall of her freshman year and gradually saw her on-field role expand over the years. After appearing in two games as a freshman and three as a sophomore, she appeared in 25 over the past two seasons, including 14 this year. In addition to her work defensively and on the draw control, she also picked up her second career assist in Yale's 11-8 win over Marist.

"Mahi is the player that every coach wants to have on their team," said Phillips. "Every day, she just comes and works hard. She pushes her teammates to be better. You don't even have to ask her, she just does it naturally."

A graduate of Tower Hill, Trivellas is a molecular, cellular and developmental biology major in Jonathan Edwards College at Yale.

Yale also announced that junior attacker Caroline Crow (Davidsonville, Md.) has been elected 2011-12 captain.